Zach Unleashes on George Pickens and Mike Tomlin (Hour 1)

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Offer valid for a limited time, $10 minimum per order, additional term supply. I'm Kate Abdo, the host of Kickin' It, a new weekly show from the CBS Sports Galasso Network, where Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Mo Adoo and I connect with the biggest personalities from global soccer and beyond to learn about their journeys and what makes them tick. This is the place for football fans to hear unfiltered conversations with the game's most familiar faces.

So what are you waiting for? Follow and listen to Kickin' It on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from the play show, yet not overly ostentatious, studios of CBS Sports Radio here in beautiful New York City, sitting on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. Welcome on in to a Wednesday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, and of course, streaming on YouTube. 855-212-4CBS is numbered to jump on in, 855-212-4227. You can always interact with me on the good old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb, also on Instagram, where I'm always straight flexing as well.

Same handle, at Zach Gelb, Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. We're rockin' and rollin' all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Moist Mike is here with us, along with Stuart Kovacs as well. Chip Patterson will join us from the Cover Three podcast in an hour 20 from now on this early National Signing Day period. And then the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Matt Ruhle, will stop by in the final hour of the show at 5 20 p.m. Eastern, 2 20 p.m. Pacific. What I'm about to say right now, I don't think is going to surprise a lot of people, because if you listen to this show, you may say, well, what's changed? Because you maybe don't follow the day-to-day of our kind of running of the network and kind of the day-to-day behind-the-scenes things over on the Zach Gelb show and also in the entirety of CBS Sports Radio. So, as you know, Damon Amendalora, back in September, left the network, and I love DA, big fan of DA, extremely kind to me, wish DA nothing but the best with what he's doing at Sirius.

And when that happened, they promoted Maggie Imperloff, who used to be in this time slot, to Morning Drive on many of the same CBS Sports Radio affiliates from 6 to 10 a.m. Eastern. So when that happened, management had a conversation with me, and they said, we want you to be the interim host from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern, noon to 3 p.m. Pacific. And I said, absolutely. We love the opportunity. And obviously, I don't plan on giving the job really to anybody else. And I hope when you go through the hiring process that you need to go through and, you know, everyone crosses their T's, dots their I's, you interview whatever candidates you want internally and externally. I'll be the best candidate for the job because, you know, I've been here since 2018. We've created a ton of headlines here at CBS Sports Radio, and I knew I was the best candidate for the job. But if management thought it was somebody else, you know, that's a decision that they were going to make. And, you know, I would go back to doing 6 to 10 p.m. Eastern, 3 to 7 p.m. Pacific because I love CBS Sports Radio.

Well, a few weeks ago, they informed me that this is my job permanently. I think some of you will be like, well, you've been on my radio in this time slot since September, so not really much has changed. If you listen to the show during that time period, we give you a compelling sports show that features some of the biggest names in sports. And also, we like to have fun. You know, we don't take ourselves too seriously. You know, I'll yell, I'll go nuts, I'll go crazy about a certain sports topic. But at the end of the day, it is an all in good fun. So I'm very happy that the company announced it today.

There were some other moves that needed to be made as well. And thrilled to be here Monday through Friday now officially from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern. And I also just want to thank a few people right out of the gate, Spike Eskin, our boss, who I've known for a long time since I was an intern for the legendary Angelo Cataldi at Sports Radio 94 WIP. The rest of the management team here at Odyssey and CBS Sports Radio, starting with the man that runs the entire company in David Field, Susan Larkin. David Maranick, one of our program directors here. Pete The Body Bellotti as well, who's a part of the management team. Jeff Sotolano, and also on the Westwood side of things, would like to thank Adam Shiffrin and also Bruce Gilbert. So I'm sure there's a lot of people that I'm forgetting.

It's not intentional. But those are some people that, you know, I had a vision when I got here at CBS Sports Radio. Didn't know some people, and they have worked with me. And, you know, I remember when I got here and I was, you know, I'm a young person, but I was like right out of college after doing a stop at WNJE in Trenton, New Jersey. And then I was doing postgame in Philadelphia and doing some stuff locally in New York and Philadelphia.

And when I was at the Super Bowl, when the Eagles were in the Super Bowl up against the Patriots, which they eventually won, I had a meeting with Eric Spitz, who used to be the head honcho around here at CBS Sports Radio. And he said, we've got weekend overnights open for you. It'll be two days a week. You go Friday into Saturday, Saturday into Sunday, 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern. You'll be on 300 stations around the country. And, you know, I came in here, did two test shows, and then they called me when I was at my other job in afternoons, being a program director and afternoon drive host for a small a.m. station in Trenton, New Jersey. And without hesitation, I accepted that job, got here, was in this time slot from 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern from about like a year and eight months, and then I left. And I left for about three months, and I went to Sirius. I had a great opportunity, wanted to work five days a week and improve my craft. And I love the weekend overnights, and it was so fun connecting with so many listeners, and we made some big headlines like I remember we had Freddie Kitchens having to go to a press conference and respond to a clip that was set on our show with Bob Wiley.

We had Donovan McNabb predicting when Carson Wentz was in the heyday as his time as the quarterback of the Eagles that he'll be out of a job with Philadelphia in two years. So we made a lot of headlines, and I was looking for a new opportunity, and Sirius came calling. And, you know, I went there on a part-time basis, but I was working five days a week. And shortly after I left, you know, I got the call back to do 6 to 10 p.m. Eastern. And in that time slot, that was massive for my career. It was an enormous opportunity, you know, my mid-20s at the time. And, you know, I did that show for nearly, for over three years.

And then it moved into this new promotion. So I'm thrilled. You know, I created some good friends in that 6 to 10 p.m. Eastern time slot. You know, I'd be remiss if I did not thank my two producers, Mike Beseglia, and then also Ryan Hot Takehiki, who I love even though I beat the crap out of him on the air and trashed him for all of his bad takes.

I'm a huge supporter of Ryan Takehiki, and I can't wait to see how he continues to grow as a host. But also, when you're on a time slot like that, you know, before games, after games, you connect with so many local affiliates. You know, I made a connection with Bart Winkler. I would go on his show, and I always believed doing a national show that you go on where the affiliates are. And unfortunately, you know, Bart lost his job.

There were some cuts in the company. And I reached out to Bart, and I said to Bart, I want you to fill in for me when I'm not here to do my CBS Sports Radio show. And management loved Bart. That turned into Bart Winkler getting some weekend shows, you know, filling in for me, becoming a great fill-in host here at CBS Sports Radio.

And I'm thrilled to see today that they promoted Bart from, you know, from a part-time host at CBS Sports Radio to a full-time host, going from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday, and that new lineup is going to start on January 2nd. And also, J.R. Sportbrief, who, you know, has been a great addition, and it's not easy shoes to fill when the network lost Scott Farrell. And I love Scott, one of my favorite people in the history of the business. I know he's going through some health problems now, and he's going to kick ass and take names.

And Scott Farrell is one of one. But when he left CBS Sports Radio, there were big shoes to fill, and they did so with J.R. And I've known J.R. for a bit. We've done a bunch of draft shows, and J.R. is an exceptional talent and a phenomenal radio host, and I'm happy for him now getting to work some earlier hours as well. So today's a good day for CBS Sports Radio.

You know, I say this all the time. I put our national lineup up against any other national sports radio lineup in the country. I believe in the people that we work for. I believe in the continuity that we have, starting with Maggie and Perloff, going into Bill Ryder, the legendary Jim Rome, who is the franchise of what we do here at CBS Sports Radio. Our show, J.R., now Bart, and then also Amy as well. And congratulations to Amy, who just got married over the weekend, which was awesome to see on social media. So I love what we do.

Odyssey, Westwood, and CBS Sports Radio, they value the audio side of radio, which sometimes gets forgotten about. And I really do believe in our lineup, and I believe in our network's vision, and I think we're going to have a new chapter of CBS Sports Radio that's going to be a wonderful chapter. So congratulations to everybody. You know, Samter, he's not going anywhere. I know some people in the YouTube chat want to see Samter smile some more. We'll try to make Samter smile some more. But Samter, you know, I've known for years now, he's one of the hardest working people in this building.

Nobody, not many people care more about the product of the show than Michael Samter. And Stu is not going anywhere either, because I need to make fun of somebody when their football team loses. And we know the Raiders are pretty damn good at that. And we know Stu won't be like Samter and will jump ship the moment his team starts losing like the Jets or they lost his entire life and become a Chiefs fan. We know Stu is loyal to the Raiders. And Stu, I've known, even when I didn't know him, I knew Stu when I was his boss at that low AM 920 the Jersey radio station. Stu was supposedly my employee, and since he was there on the weekends and I wasn't there on the weekends, I never knew that. But I've worked with Stu part-time, on the weekend overnights, full-time, filling in, you know, different time slots, and always love what Stu does bring to the table. So we're going to have fun.

You know, not much is going to change. You know, it's a weird spot for me because since September, like I always had the vision that I was going to get this job and get this show. But for it to be official, it's a big moment in my career and I'm absolutely elated and I'm fired up to continue to build in our community. You know, that's the biggest difference with CBS Sports Radio compared to any other national network. Like when I go to a remote broadcasting event where DA had that Bob's Bar show with Marash and there's people flying in from Vancouver and California and Randy in Alabama. This is only a radio thing that happens, drives to the show and I park his car. It just shows that we have something special here and we have a family feel. And it's sometimes tough on a national landscape to connect with the local audience. But CBS Sports Radio at times feels, even though we're a national network, like we are a local network because we care about our listeners and we connect with our listeners.

We talk to them on the air at 855-212-4CBS on social media. And then it's always great when we go to the draft, when we go to the Super Bowl, you know, when we have events that we can connect in person. So I'm thrilled. I'm elated for this opportunity. And what people have built here at CBS Sports Radio from Geo, Brian Jones, Jim Rome, what he's done.

You know, DA, the list goes on and on and on, BT and Tiki as well. And I'm just excited for the next chapter. And some people don't like change. And I understand that. But I think if you give our show a try, if you give us a chance, you're going to say, wow.

Even though I don't always agree with Zach, which is fine, you don't always have to agree with me. You know, he puts everything he has into these three hours that he has. And you know, you're going to get his best. And you know, you're going to get different perspectives from guys like Stu, from Mike as well. And we'll reach out to some of the biggest names in sports.

And we have a pretty damn good track record on getting those guys on and saying some things that creates a compelling kind of show here at CBS Sports Radio. So I know that's about like 12, 13 minutes. I didn't expect to go that long on it, but I'm fired up for the opportunity and really happy to officially be here Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern, noon to 3 p.m. Pacific.

Always love a challenge and I'm created and I'm looking forward to accomplishing great things in this time slot. Let's do this because it's then like the awkward elevator kind of moment right now where it's like, oh, you're giving your speech and then the elevator doors open. I don't want to transition to a different topic. So let's just take a break right now.

It's 13 after the hour. This is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. When we come on back, Jim Harbaugh, I don't think he's returning to Michigan.

I've had a change of heart. We'll discuss where I think he's going to when we return on the brand new Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern in five minutes. I'm Kate Abdo, the host of Kicking It, a new weekly show from the CBS Sports Galasso Network where Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Mo Adoo and I connect with the biggest personalities from global soccer and beyond to learn about their journeys and what makes them tick. This is the place for football fans to hear unfiltered conversations with the game's most familiar faces. So what you waiting for?

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Get started at Stamps.com today with code PROGRAM for a four-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale. Brand new show. This is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio officially Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern. We appreciate you listening in to us. We'll talk about Jim Harbaugh in just a second. But, Sam, you're usually a pretty good read on these things. I told you I was going to forget, like, two people. I forgot two people in terms of the people that I needed to thank. And they may be the two most important people.

Or the two most important groups in my life right now. Well, we just had the whole thank you is all. We got the show.

We're so super excited. I didn't thank my family for a second. I was thinking mom and dad.

Oh, my goodness. My entire family. Everyone that is in that is related to me. I thank you for believing in me and really supporting my dreams and my aspirations and all that. You know, my family, it's kind of like I think radio should work.

We all like to bust each other's chops. And I know the moment I get off the air, I'm going to get a bunch of texts. Oh, you didn't thank me originally. You thanked all those management people. But not the people that made you.

So thank you to my parents and everyone related to me. And also my agent, Mark Love Seltzer, who is just absolutely phenomenal. And I've known Mark for a very long time. And he's the best. If you're a radio host, if you're on TV, you want to be represented by Mark Love Seltzer.

Anyway, enough with all the lovey-dovey, pat everyone on the ass, kiss each other and we love each other type of talk. I got to get to Jim Harbaugh. So before the season started, I thought this was going to be Jim Harbaugh's final season with the Michigan Wolverines. And the reason why I thought that was over these hamburgers where he was at the Brown Jug in Michigan buying recruits hamburgers. And then there were some recruiting violations as well and impermissible contact during the COVID period and things like that. And I thought to myself, since Harbaugh didn't bow down to the NCAA and the feeling before the season started was it was going to be a three-game suspension. But the NCAA infraction of the committee infraction, they wanted him to issue an apology and basically admit that he was wrong and he refused to do that. So then Michigan self-imposed a three-game suspension on Harbaugh and that was one pending issue.

Where he's still going to get their minimum a game or two, if not more, from that incident. And then as you know, the biggest, most ridiculous story to ever hit college football, the whole sign-stealing scandal came about with Connor Stallion so no one knew who he was before that. And there's going to be some punitive action I would imagine from that where even though Tony Petitti tried to be a big, tough guy and then was basically like a coward at the Big Ten championship game. And Harbaugh did a good move. He's like, oh, let's get the trophy to Zach Sinter. I won't even shake the hand of Tony Petitti.

I don't even want to see that Tony Petitti who is a coward and he knows Rob Manfred so that doesn't really surprise me that in a big spot, Tony Petitti projectile vomited and operated out of fear. And was a coward and bowed down to all the other schools in the Big Ten that were upset with Jim Harbaugh. So when that happened, there was more and more of a push that Harbaugh was going to leave. And when everyone's saying somebody is going to leave, even when I was in the opinion before the season that Harbaugh was going to depart Ann Arbor. You know, I kind of looked at it and said to myself, well, Harbaugh's a different dude.

Like you tell someone turn left at a light. Harbaugh's just going to turn right for the sake of turning right. And he travels down a totally different path than any of us.

And he's a strange guy. So even though I was advocating at one point Harbaugh to go to the Bills and I think I've advocated for Harbaugh to go to like every team that potentially could have a job opening or does have a job opening. I started to soften my stance that he was going to leave. But now, as we're a week or two away from the semifinals and we're waiting to see the Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of them all between Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban, Michigan and Alabama, the Harbaugh story is starting to become a story again. And when I sit here today and I have to make a prediction, will Harbaugh leave and will he be back at Michigan next year? The reason why I can't say he definitely will is there was a report a few weeks ago that they were nearing a new contract extension where it was going to make him write the highest paid coach in the Big Ten. And there would have been a clause in that contract that he wouldn't be allowed to leave this hiring cycle to go pursue an NFL job. I find it funny that we have not heard a peep about that potential contract extension that seemed like a done deal in the last week or two. And Michigan has had a bunch of opportunities to get this done. And I don't know if they don't want to get it done or if Harbaugh doesn't want to get this done. And I go back to the last two hiring cycles after the first time Harbaugh beat Ohio State, he did that 12 hour interview with the Minnesota Vikings. You know, we've all interviewed for jobs that you maybe try to do for leverage and you're maybe not serious about interviewing for that job. But no one sits through a 12 hour interview if they're not serious about potentially taking that job. And the job wasn't offered to him.

So you then fast forward a year. He wins another Big Ten championship. He beats Ohio State again. And last year he had to practically beg for a team to hire him. And Denver said no.

Carolina said no. And now here we are for a third straight year where he doesn't have a new deal done with Michigan. Michigan for the third straight year.

Sorry, Michael Fry, one of our loyal listeners. He has defeated Ohio State. He's won three straight Big Ten championships and now has a legitimate chance to not only win his first college football playoff game, but to win the national championship. He's two wins away from winning the national championship. You know, two years ago when they lost to Georgia, no one thought they were winning that game. Last year they were thought to be TCU, but they would have never beat Georgia in the national championship game. When you look at this college football playoff right now with Michigan, with Alabama, with Texas, with Washington.

By the way, Washington's coach, Kalen DeBorga, to join us tomorrow. There is no one team that is a lock to win this national title. Where in other years, it's been a totally different feeling. Like I expect two awesome semifinal games, which we don't always get.

They're usually blowouts. And it's just bizarre to me when Michigan has an opportunity to go to bat for their guy and stick with their guy in a bunch of controversy when he has brought Michigan back, has dominated and beat the snot out of Ohio State, has won the Big Ten three straight years, that this deal isn't done. And with this deal not being done, it just screams to me that even though Jim is a Michigan man, even though Jim loves the university, and I do think he would love to stay, but I also think there's a part of him that has the NFL calling. When you basically have exceeded the expectations what you could do at Michigan. Now that program was in a bad spot. You got off to a decent start and then you could never beat Ohio State. And now you have brought Michigan back. And yeah, you still have to go win a national championship.

But if you leave tomorrow, people will be upset because you're leaving. But people aren't going to look at Jim Harbaugh at his alma mater in a negative way because he made the program significantly better. And when he went to the NFL, it was only a four-year period. He had problems with Trent Baalke, the GM of the 49ers. But he went to three NFC title games and a Super Bowl.

And oh yeah, by the way, he lost that Super Bowl to his brother. And it's been clear in the last two years he's wanted to go back to the NFL. And also now you have to deal with name, image, and likeness.

Now you have to deal with the transfer portal. Now you have the NCAA closely monitoring everything you do. As long as Harbaugh gets offered a job this offseason by an NFL team, I do think he's gone.

And there's some attractive jobs out there. You know, the Raiders have some talent with Devante Adams. We'll see if Josh Jacobs stay.

You have Max Crosby as well. You know, I could see maybe Mark Davis offering the job to Jim Harbaugh. The commanders are looking for someone to run their entire organization. So if Jim Harbaugh wants power, he could be that guy. You know, I wouldn't go to Carolina, but you know that David Tepper will throw you an enormous amount of cash.

And then you have the Chargers. Because like Harbaugh wants to win. And Harbaugh, either him or Belichick, will be the two most sought-after coaches. But Belichick right now is under contract.

So you have to pay for him. And you look at the Chargers, the question just becomes, are they going to pay Jim Harbaugh? Like it's one thing to give up draft picks and then pay the coach.

For Jim, you just got to pay him. And I would have to think that if the Chargers are actually an NFL team, and I know you hear all the time about how cheap the Spanos family are, they will do whatever it takes with this young core and this good core and this talented core that have been underachieving the last few years under Brandon Staley who should not be a head coach. I would hope, and maybe I'm naive here, but I would hope that the Chargers would hire Jim Harbaugh. I really would. And I saw the Jordan Schultz report that the Chargers are interested in him, but are they actually interested in him? Are they going to put their money where their mouth is? And for Jim Harbaugh, what wouldn't you want with the Chargers?

Like you know the West Coast, you know California, you know Los Angeles. You got a young quarterback who's ready to be a star in this league. You still got some good wide receivers in Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, and you just drafted Quinnen Johnson out of TCU.

On defense, you got some players in Derwin James and in Bosa and in Khalil Mack. I just think they need a better coach. So right now, I do think Harbaugh's preference is to go back to the NFL and the Chargers would be foolish to not either get Bill Belichick or Jim Harbaugh when it's all said and done. And with how much Harbaugh keeps on saying he wants to be at Michigan. Like I even go back to after the Vikings didn't hire him, he said this won't be a yearly occurrence. And look at what has transpired the last two years. He didn't get offered a job last year, he barely had any interest, but it was a yearly occurrence. And here we are now for the third straight year talking about is Jim going to stay or is Jim going to go?

And my biggest question here is why hasn't a deal not been done yet? And is that because Michigan has some reservations about it with the pending sanctions that are looming? Or is it that Jim, even though he says he wants to be at Michigan, really has his eyes on the NFL? Like is this when you're single and you go out to a bar and you're talking to a seven or a seven and a half and you're in a good spot? Like you're in a good spot, but then the moment a nine or a ten walks by you're like, Oh, if that girl talks to me, I'm not going to talk to the seven or the seven and a half that I'm talking to right now.

And that's what it feels like with Jim Harbaugh. He's happy. He's talking to the attractive girl. She has a good job. She has a good personality. She has good eyes.

She has a good smile. But his eyes are wandering and he's just waiting for someone a little bit better to come calling. And the moment that NFL team offers him a job, I think he's as good as gone. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Do you think the Chargers should hire Jim Harbaugh?

And do you think Jim Harbaugh is going to be leaving Michigan to go to the pros? 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. We'll take a break.

When we come on back, it's time to bench George Pickens. Update time first. Here's the act man, Rich Ackerman. It's time to ask the pros where you, the listeners, get to ask us a question. It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Simply tweet your question at CBS Sports Radio or at Zach Gelb. Use the hashtag Ask the Pros.

Be listening later in the show when we might answer your question. You can think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs. Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

O-O-O-O-O'Reilly Auto Parts. I am so sick and tired. Or I'm actually past the point of being sick and tired and having to talk about George Pickens. I was done with George Pickens after a Steelers win up against Tennessee on a Thursday night football game where after the game where he failed to secure a catch that would have been a touchdown he had the audacity in a win, let me remind everyone one more time, to post free me on Instagram. That was childish, it was unnecessary, and it was diva-like behavior from one George Pickens and George Pickens let's just call it for what it is he is selfish and he only cares about himself and he has the potential to be a great wide receiver but he already thinks he's great and right now the juice isn't worth the squeeze and he's not worth the headache and right now when you see the one incident happen all right young player maybe he can learn from it from the whole free me incident but then there's a viral clip of George Pickens failing to block against the Colts on Saturday when Jalen Warren is running as hard as he could and you get inside the five yard line and you have two Colts defenders near Jalen Warren and what is George Pickens doing he's just standing there and he's not giving a rat's ass so they asked him about it afterwards and he goes oh I was just not trying to get hurt are you bleeping kidding me because here's why your argument is ridiculous and don't tell me you were trying to prevent the tank del situation that happened two weeks ago with the Texans because we all know if there was a ball that was thrown your way and maybe because the Steelers have bad quarterbacks it was thrown a little bit too far if you thought you could make the catch and dive and extend your body to go real in the catch even though you were maybe gonna get hit or you were gonna hit the ground hard and you could have suffered an injury you would have done it why because it would have boost your stats why because it would have boost your ego and it would have had everyone saying oh what a catch what a play by George Pickens part of being a receiver is not only catching the ball but also blocking and for him to have the audacity afterwards to just openly admit not even have a good excuse not even do like a dog ate my homework or come up with something but to actually admit that you just didn't want to get hurt he's got to be benched and now I turn my attention to Mike Tomlin because Sam to inform me during the break that Mike Tomlin said he's not going to get benched and they're going to play him this weekend Mike Tomlin who's a well-respected coach I know he's somewhat on the hot seat right now but do you have any accountability in that locker room like Mike Tomlin you've dealt with you've dealt with much worse you had to deal with Antonio Brown you had to deal with the jackassery of Chase Claypool as well you know this is easy stuff for you now you're used to dealing with these things but George Pickens every time he opens his mouth he's saying something stupid with the free me stuff in a win and now oh yeah I wasn't blocking because I wasn't trying to get hurt you can't allow that to happen and what about the other guys in the locker room you know I know the Steeler team isn't some great team this year but if those other teammates have pride and they actually care about what they do how do they go to battle how do they go to war with George Pickens this week when he's not willing to give it a give it his all like why would another guy start checking out and start making business decisions as well when you're this late into the season when you're trying to turn your season around it's inexcusable and for Mike Tomlin to say that he's not going to bench him I just can't support that and it's once again showing that even though Tomlin is a phenomenal coach and would get a job tomorrow maybe it's time for a change with the Steelers could you imagine Heinz Ward the great Heinz Ward saying yeah I'm taking a playoff I didn't feel like blocking no Heinz Ward would hit you in the mouth and it'd be the proudest moment of his career this is ridiculous and I don't know if it's a leadership issue I don't know if no one could contain George Pickens but it's a guarantee this guy will get traded this offseason there is no doubt about it I'd tell them back or not who's gonna want to put up with this guy he was bitching earlier in the year about a win saying free me and now all the sudden yeah I don't I don't feel like blocking because I don't want to get hurt and that's ridiculous and don't be one of these dopes today that goes oh he's thinking about what's in the best interest of himself oh uh you know George you know I wouldn't want to get hurt either stop it this is football you make a block it's a simple part of your job and you know what I don't want to hear him use that injury as a potential excuse because he'll make catches and he'll take big hits that way as well it is just so ridiculous and how the the Steelers continue to enable him and don't hold him accountable you gotta sit his ass down you you gotta pay him whatever suspend whatever you want to do I don't care whether you can't suspend him or not because of the cba it's a totally different conversation but you don't have to play him you could pay him you don't have to pay him and playing him this weekend would be an absolute embarrassment and it would go against everything the Steelers stand for the Steelers used to be a gold standard organization in the NFL one of the more respected organizations in the NFL synonymous with winning and now you're allowing George Pickens to openly say yeah I wasn't blocking someone I wasn't giving it my all because I was afraid I was going to get hurt and you're allowing him to get away with this this is a young player you just went through something similar with Chase Claypool who what in his first season had 10 touchdowns and then he talked himself out of Pittsburgh and now George Pickens who has an enormous amount of talent remember everyone before the season oh pick it to Pickens this is going to be special this is going to be wonderful yeah those takes didn't age well but that's a different topic of conversation for another day but now you have a teachable moment to a young player who doesn't get it and you're going to let him skate free skate free you know it doesn't matter what Talman says behind the closed doors it doesn't matter what Talman said even when he condemns him in this presser you're letting him play you are letting him play in his next game take football away from him this week because he doesn't want to be a football player he just wants to be a selfish wide receiver on the field that only cares about his individual stats and doesn't care about the team that's what George Pickens is about oh I don't want to block I'm afraid I'm going to get hurt then don't call yourself a football player don't be on the field because there's a bunch of other guys that would like to block and like to get the paycheck that you're getting and give it their all and probably would do a better job than you would do and I've seen videos before George Pickens blocking you know we've seen it before this is something new so now by not sitting him down and by playing him he's got to think this is okay and he's going to get away with it oh yeah you know they they slap me on the wrist behind the scenes you know maybe they made me run a a few sprints in practice all Mike Talman gave me a stern talking to but they didn't sit me down and like I would love to talk to Jay LaMourene and I feel bad for him you want to go to battle with George Pickens you feel good with George Pickens when you're trying to go get a touchdown and you're three four yards out George Pickens is standing there with uh basically uh just uh you know playing with the stums that's what we're doing now it's ridiculous like Santa I I'll play the audio in just a second from Pickens and from Tomlin but when you're trying to get a team back to a spot where they were I'm not saying everyone's going to be all in 24 7 but this isn't like skipping some training in the off season or for voluntary OTAs not showing up when you're on the field and you're a receiver and you're asked to block that's mandatory and you don't want to block because you're afraid you're going to get afraid you're going to get hurt I don't want you on my team and I'd sit your ass down and I would not play him this week that is that is ludicrous to me you know as Emmitt Smith would say it makes me hot it makes me mad that they're going to play this guy this weekend the only thing I would say to that because I I'm with you as well dude like I I think it's ridiculous I think that they have to send a message but I'm also not in that locker room right Mike Tomlin seems to have a pulse of players he seems to understand and know what motivates and how to get to his players now maybe this year it's not working quite as well but Tomlin the one thing you can always say about Mike Tomlin is he has the respect of his players and he respects his players and he talks to them and he's he's like a player's coach in the sense that like he communicates well with his players that's what there's respect there yeah it's not a doormat so my hope is my thought is that Matt that uh Mike Tomlin has a better understanding of what it is that's going to work for George Pickens than we do now it's a very easy thing to say he's not blocking he's not taking accountability let's bench him Mike Tomlin's probably thinking on a much deeper level of okay I know this kid I've been with him for two years I've seen him work I know what makes him tick I know what motivates him I know what doesn't motivate him so maybe he's thinking on a I and I don't know I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he knows better than we do however on the surface it is a terrible look yeah that George Pickens is playing it's a terrible look that he's not taking accountability and it's a terrible look that Mike Tomlin and the rest of the team is not making him take accountability so it looks bad on the surface I'm just I'm just hoping that Mike Tomlin I'm just giving Mike Tomlin the benefit of the doubt if George Pickens got benched this weekend I don't think George Pickens ever listens to Mike Tomlin again but if that's why you're not punishing him you already know that this relationship is fractured beyond repair whether you play him or not this weekend I think George Pickens is trying to force his way out this off season he he's gonna demand the trade and really he has no leg to stand on to demand the trade and I wouldn't trade for him because he has all the talent but he seems like a royal pain in the ass and a headache that isn't worth the production that we're seeing on the field let's go to Mike Tomlin this is on George Pickens dealing with the media as of late I would like him to be more professional in terms of addressing some of his shortcomings with you guys to to further add fluidity to the process he's not helping himself he's not helping the process in the manner in which he's dealt with you guys but the manner in which he deals with you guys is not necessarily a manner in which he deals with us or himself regarding acknowledging where he is and where he needs to go that makes no sense that really made he is just talking to talk you know he he gave us all what we wanted in the beginning you know I'd like him to talk better to the media and clarify what he's saying and all that but then after that there's like this great separation between the media and the fans right grouped together and then what's going on inside that locker room like the locker room is sacred and we can't understand what goes on in the locker room heck there's a lot of things on the locker room heck let's say I was an offensive lineman or I was Jalen Warren or I was another wide receiver on that team you think I'm happy with George Pickens oh George why didn't you try to help Jalen Warren out there I was afraid of getting hurt well here I am busting my ass and I could get hurt but I'm still giving it my max effort that's why it's ridiculous don't give me that oh there's this locker room and we can't understand what's going on in the locker room that's a Tomlin knows better than that and Tomlin knows Pickens is in the wrong and for whatever reason he's not willing to punish him here is Mike Tomlin on the lessons that George Pickens could learn when you're winning and doing your jobs man a lot of the attention and so forth is on things such as that when you're not doing your job and losing you better keep your damn mouth shut and understand that that tracks a certain type of attention as well and usually that's vulture-like attention well Mike he ran his mouth when you guys were winning with the free me and he still ran his mouth while you were losing so it goes both ways this guy just runs his mouth it's verbal diarrhea over and over and over again from George Pickens and he only cares about himself that's all who he cares about oh I'm not blocking because I don't want to get hurt bull crap absolute bull crap because I'll say it again you throw him a ball that's three or four yards out of his reach he'll extend for it because it increases his personal brand he didn't want to block and that's why you need to sit this guy down how do you not get that as a veteran coach who's been in this league as a head coach since 2007 has coached in two Super Bowls has won a Super Bowl how do you allow George Pickens to get away with this this is now two times he's been a dope this year after a win against Tennessee oh free me how about you get your second foot down and catch the damn ball George Pickens and now after a loss after you were up early and you had what 30 something points scored on your ass George Pickens refused refused to block and you're letting him just get away with it man how the Steelers have fallen it's embarrassing have some accountability this is a young guy that has a lot of talent and he's going to talk himself out of the league because his attitude is horrendous his attitude is embarrassing and I wouldn't want him on my team because all he cares about is himself he doesn't care about the team and that's not how you win in the NFL and I could put up with selfish players but you better be putting up better numbers than what George Pickens has given you what a joke well what a disgrace and I'm disappointed in Tomlin for for basically allowing him to get away with nothing I'm Kate Abdo the host of Kicking It, a new weekly show from the CBS Sports Galasso Network where Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Mo Adoo and I connect with the biggest personalities from global soccer and beyond to learn about their journeys and what makes them tick this is the place for football fans to hear unfiltered conversations with the game's most familiar faces so what you waiting for follow and listen to Kicking It on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts